Friday column: Cover-up or bungling? Either way, it ain't good

Sports build character.

Or so we’re told from the time we can toddle onto a playing field or a soccer pitch.

How has the character building been going at The University of New Mexico lately?

Not so good on the women’s soccer team, which was embarrassed by a video showing Elizabeth Lambert engaging in various bits of thuggery in a game against BYU.

Suspended, Lambert issued an apology, claiming her actions were in “no way indicative of my character or the soccer player that I am.”

Maybe.

But as anyone can see by googling “Elizabeth Lambert” and clicking on the video link, this wasn’t a single incident, or even two. It was multiple incidents that included a punch in the back of one BYU player and the pulling — by the hair — of another to the ground.

“Liz is a quality student-athlete, but in this instance her actions clearly crossed the line of fair play and good sportsmanship,” said UNM head coach Kit Vela.

You think, coach? Lambert didn’t just cross the line; she nuked it. And if you thought she had — oh my goodness, crossed the line — why didn’t you pull her from the match?

“Liz’s conduct on the field against BYU was completely inappropriate,” said UNM Vice President for Athletics Paul Krebs. “There is no way to defend her actions.”

Good to know, Paul, because if anyone can defend “inappropriate” actions, it’s you.

Krebs, of course, is the one who soft-pedaled football coach Mike Locksley’s altercation with assistant coach J.B. Gerald — only admitting something had happened after a police report became public, then vocally supported Locksley while “reprimanding” him.

The altercation, according to Gerald, involved Locksley choking and punching Gerald during a coaching meeting. Despite evidence to the contrary, Krebs backed Locksley’s contention that no punches were thrown but did allow that the coach’s actions were “inappropriate” — clearly his favorite word.

Under pressure from news media and faculty, Krebs finally suspended Locksley, and an investigation separate from the athletic department was begun. But this, too, has been tainted by controversy, including the destruction of notes.

How bad has it been? Bad enough that school President David Schmidly asks us to please believe it was mere “bungling,” and not an attempted cover-up.

So what are we to believe? Are Krebs and company conspirators or incompetents? Actually, they look like nothing so much as small-minded bureaucrats in perpetual damage control.

Back to character and sports. We’ll give the last word on the subject to legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden, who knew something about both.

Sports, he said, doesn’t build character; it reveals it.

Contact Jim Gordon at gjames43@msn.com.